Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary
The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.' It is 'antiracist.' What's the difference?
One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an antiracist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an antiracist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of 'not racist.’
Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
The Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights presents Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary, a lecture series and associated course presenting preeminent scholars, thought leaders, and public intellectuals to guide our community through topics necessary to an understanding of systemic racism and racial justice. The series is self-consciously an entry point, designed to provide intellectual and moral building blocks to begin the transformative work of anti-racism in our students, on our campus, and in our broader communities.
Watch videos of past speakers here
For students
Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary is available as either a one-credit or three-credit course for Notre Dame students. The presentations will be offered via Zoom for all participants, with an additional in-classroom component for the three-credit course. Students who do not register for the class are welcome and encouraged to join individual lectures as noted below.
Course registration information here
For the Notre Dame community
Each session in the series will be synchronously available, via Zoom, to any member of the Notre Dame community—students, staff, faculty, or alumni. Join us for the whole series, or even just one lecture.
You must register to attend any part of the series. Registration provides access to all of the lectures, but you may choose which lectures to attend. We recommend early registration, as space is limited, but you may do so at any time during the semester. An nd.edu or alumni.nd.edu email address is required. Alumni who wish to obtain an alumni.nd.edu email address may do so at the Notre Dame Alumni Association, here.
Please note that attendance is limited for each lecture in the series. We invite you to register, but cannot guarantee that all registrants will be able to attend every session.
For the public
Video recordings and suggested readings from many lectures will be available as the series unfolds. Check here for the latest uploads.
Watch videos of past speakers here
Guest Experts for Spring 2021
All sessions via Zoom at 12:45 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. ET (US)
Friday, February 12
Racism and the Catholic Church
Fr. Bryan Massingale
James and Nancy Buckman Chair in Applied Christian Ethics, Fordham University and author, Racial Justice and the Catholic Church
Friday, February 19
Ferguson
Wesley Lowery
Journalist for CBS News and author, They Can't Kill Us All: Ferguson, Baltimore, and a New Era in America's Racial Justice Movement
Friday, February 26
The Black Lives Matter Syllabus
Frank Leon Roberts
Faculty, New York University and author of the groundbreaking "Black Lives Matter: Race, Resistance, and Populist Protest" course
Friday, March 5
Christianity and White Supremacy
Damon Berry
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, St. Lawrence University and author, Blood and Faith: Christianity in American White Nationalism
Friday, March 12
Implicit Bias
Dolly Chugh
Associate Professor, New York University and author, The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias
Watch the video here with Notre Dame ID
Friday, March 19
Identity
Sunny Hostin
Senior Legal Correspondent & Analyst for ABC News and author, I Am These Truths: A Memoir of Identity, Justice, and Living Between Worlds
Watch the video here with Notre Dame ID
Friday, March 26
Misuse of Civil Rights History
Jeanne Theoharis
Distinguished Professor of Political Science, Brooklyn College and author, A More Beautiful and Terrible History: The Uses and Misuses of Civil Rights History
Friday, April 9
Charlottesville
Amy Spitalnick
Executive Director, Integrity First for America
Charlottesville
Jessica Phillips
Partner, Paul Weiss
Charlottesville
Michael Bloch
Counsel, Kaplan Heckler & Fink LLP
Friday, April 16
Politics of Racial Resentment
Jonathan Metzl
Director of the Department of Medicine, Health, and Society, Vanderbilt University and author, Dying of Whiteness: How the Politics of Racial Resentment is Killing America’s Heartland
Friday, April 23
Citizenship and Suffrage
Christina Wolbrecht
Professor of Political Science and Director, Rooney Center for the Study of American Democracy, University of Notre Dame
Friday, April 30
Policing Reform
DeRay Mckesson
Civil rights activist and author, On the Other Side of Freedom: The Case for Hope
Friday, May 7
Student Activism for Racial Justice
Roundtable discussion with Notre Dame students and alumni